GC UNIVERSITY LAHORE AWARDS PHD IN CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY

 

The GC University Lahore has awarded a PhD in the subject of Clinical Psychology to Ms. Sadia Saleem after the approval of her research thesis entitled “Prevalence of Emotional and Behavioral Problems and their Relationship with School Performance and Self-esteem in Children of Class 8-10”. Her thesis was supervised by Dr. Zahid Mahmud, Head of Department of Clinical Psychology GCU Lahore.

 

(19-12-2011)

 

 

Rescue 1122 engages GCU expertise 

 

The Punjab Emergency Service (Rescue 1122) has engaged the expertise of GC University Lahore clinical psychologists to work on post-traumatic stress among rescue workers, and develop modern psychological test system for selection of right people in the life saving emergency services. GCU Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. Khalid Aftab and Rescue 1122 Director General Dr. Rizwan Naseer signed the agreement carried out between the GCU Department of Clinical Psychology and the Punjab Emergency Service. Department of Clinical Psychology Director Prof. Zahid Mehmood was also present. “Rescue workers are daily exposed to traumatic stress while helping people in emergency. Dealing with situations like terrorism, fire, car accidents and rape develop traumatic stress disorder in workers which reduces their efficiency and commitment,” said 1122 Director General while requesting the clinical psychologists of the university to help the Punjab Emergency Service in coping with the situation.

 

The GCU and Rescue 1122 have also pledged to work for development of safer communities in Pakistan through research projects and joint practical initiatives including conferences, workshops, awareness and training programmes and seminars. Both the intuitions have also pledged to share resources, knowledge and expertise for caring out the above mention joint projects. They would also conduct behaviour studies of communities to prevent road traffic accidents and injuries. 

 

However, GCU Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr Khalid Aftab said that the university professors and researchers should also work with the emergency service officials to manage post-traumatic stress among public after emergency or disaster. The vice chancellor and Rescue 1122 officials appreciated that Clinical Psychology Department have already successfully developed psychological tests for the Pakistan Air Force and these days it was working with the PAF on stress management in pilots. They hoped that the new psychological test system developed by the GCU for Rescue 1122 would help in selection of right people in the life saving emergency services and would reduce the drop-out percentage of rescue workers.

 

 

Director Planning and External Links GCU Ms Fauzia Shaheen told the meeting that under the agreement, the Rescue 1122 would also provide internship and research opportunities for students of GCU. She said all the Rescue 1122 data of accidents, fire incidents; crime and prank calls would also be available to GCU students for research.    The meeting also discussed in detail the fallouts of recent incident of “street justice” in Sialkot and termed the situation “alarming.” The GCU and Rescue 1122 also planned to hold a seminar in the university on the issue of “street justice.”    

 

(04-10-2010)

 

 

 

GCU ORGANIZES WORKSHOP FOR AUTISTIC CHILDREN

 

The Alumni Society of Clinical Psychology Department GC University Lahore organized a training workshop on “Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS)”, a highly effective method of non-verbal communication with Autistic children who have delays in speech development. The clinical psychologists and professionals from various parts of Punjab attended the workshop.

 

Addressing the workshop attendee, resource person Sajjad Ahmad said that PECS used pictures instead of words to help children and had proved to be very useful in clinics and schools. He said a child could be trained in PECS by a parent, caregiver, or therapist who had learned the method. In the early phases of PECS training, the child chooses a picture of a desired food, and receives the food in exchange for the picture. Getting the food was the positive reinforcement for using the picture to communicate. He said that as the child begins to understand the usefulness of communication, the hope is that he would then begin to use natural speech.

 

(03-06-2010)

 

 

Annual Report on Campus Counseling Services (CCS) July2008-June 2009

 

Background:

 

The history of GCU campus counselling service goes back a long way. However, the reorganization of the service along professional lines started in 2006 when it formally became a part of the Department of Clinical Psychology. In 2007 a qualified clinical psychologist from GCU clinical training programme was appointed as the Campus Counsellor, with a remit to develop a comprehensive counselling service for the students of the University. Working under the administrative and professional supervision of the Head of the Department of Clinical Psychology, GC University, the foundation of a service was laid along professional lines. In 2008 the services were located in the newly built Student Counselling Centre.

 

It took a few months to complete the spade work for the service. Information leaflets were prepared and distributed throughout the University to publicize the new locale and the operation policy.  A generic brochure along with the service development plan, information leaflets for the students on common problem faced were prepared. Guidance and information material was prepared on study skills and strategies, time management, improving concentration, self motivation, presentation skills, dealing with exam anxiety, problem solving, decision making managing moods and this is an on going process.

 

The Mission Statement:

 

Our aim is to provide a readily accessible campus counselling service to all students of GC University with emotional, psychological and behavioural, social and academic problems and help them improve their level of functioning in all areas with proven techniques and skills.

 

The service:

The Campus counselling service is essentially a self-referral service open to all students of GCU. In addition, any one from the teaching staff or the medical staff can refer with the student’s consent. It is important that the student should contact the counselor directly for appointment.

 

At the initial assessment meeting every student is interviewed and asked to fill in a generic Problems Checklist developed for the Service by the Department of Clinical Psychology. The students may be asked to fill in other questionnaires if necessary for assessment. At this point a decision is made whether a particular student needs individual and /or group counselling. Individual session can start immediately which lasts about 60 minutes, and is followed by revision and documentation process which takes half an hour at least. Individual sessions are continued on weekly basis and normally 6-8 sessions are offered to each client. A thorough and regular record keeping is maintained on every student and all data are collated and a monthly report is submitted to the Head of the Department of Clinical Psychology for scrutiny.

 

Counselling approaches used are focal, short term and active. The techniques used in the service have efficacy demonstrated by research. Cognitive behavioural techniques along with social skills learning in a crisis intervention mould have been found to be very effective.

 

To-date 120 students have been seen on individual basis altogether for 950 sessions.

 

Group Counseling

 

Group counseling is not only a more efficient way of meeting the ever-growing demand for counselling it is also more effective and more appropriate with a number of problems. The most common of theses are Class Presentations, Exam Anxiety, Time Management and Effective Study Skills. The group counselling sessions planned on monthly basis and the schedule is publicized well in advance and students are invited to register for the group of their choice. A typical group consists of 8-10 students with similar problems briefed and assessed at the start of the group session and it may last. A group session lasts for two hours, group preparation takes 4-5 hours and evaluation of the outcomes requires three hours. All formats and the contents of the group counselling session are planned and discussed with the Supervisor.

 

To date 40 groups have been held totally attendance of 150 students.  

 

Service monitoring:

 

The service is regularly monitored for efficiency and effectiveness. Record keeping and monthly reports are prepared and presented to the Supervisor. A Service Evaluation Form is already in use for the student as the pre and post assessment of the problem is used with every client that also includes service satisfaction. The active feed back system has been incorporated with the service.

 

Supervision:

 

The professional quality and service efficacy are regularly and supervised by Dr Zahid Mahmood. Cases are discussed and data are collated and checked on monthly basis.

 

Teaching and Training:

 

The success of the service can be gauged by the fact the Campus Counselling Services has been incorporated into the M S in Clinical Psychology training programme. The service has generated a lot of interest in the trainee clinical psychologists and this year they have been offered Campus Counselling as an option in the course. Six trainees opted for placement in the Campus Counselling Service for a Semester. They were given lectures and workshops by the Campus Counselor and a Clinical Psychologist and both organized all the clinical work and supervised case management. If this facility is repeated every year it will expand the scope the service.

 

The Future:

 

It seems that as the service and it contribution is getting better known among the students and staff, the number of clients is increasing and we may have to plan for a wider range of services. The list of issues and problems for which students are seeking help is lengthening.

 

For the details of the related documents please see the Appendices.